History of the Space Pirates
Space Pirates have been responsible for some of the most disastrous events in Galactic history, such as the Phazon Crisis, and have been responsible for the raid and capture of over 200 planets, including Zebes, Bryyo, Norion, Elysia, Tallon IV, Naishii, Jigrad, and K-2L. The following is a full account of their history. invasion.]] Pre-Zebes History Space Pirates have been present since the early days of the Galactic Federation. They quickly established themselves as a fearsome force, necessiating the formation of the Galactic Federation Police. The pirates were notorious for raiding vessels in an instant and disappearing the next. However, their target was not always just the cargo. The pirates would also lay claim to entire planets, establishing the now-captured planet as their territory and its natives as their slaves.Kreatz:So this is how they mark their territory. They were known to be so zealous of their right to rule that they would even refer to themselves as the rightful inhabitants of the planet. The Federation Police ordered the arrest of anyone affiliated with the pirates, but the pirates were very mysterious and difficult to track in the vastness of space. The Police were eventually forced to turn to Bounty Hunters, paying high prices in exchange for captured pirates. , home of the Chozo.]] The Invasion of Zebes Zebes was the perfect candidate for a Pirate military base. The planet was the correct size, inhospitable to most life forms yet similar to the climate on SR388, was far away from the ever-scrutinizing Federation's eyes, and was home to the Chozo, a peaceful race of avians who were the most technologically advanced race in the history of the Universe, and yet were largely defenseless due to their pacifistic nature. The Manga states that the Chozo had bulked up their defenses after an attempted Pirate raid years ago (in which they also had the assistance of the Federation), but did not anticipate the Pirates using stolen technology in the Space Pirate Flagship to harness the gravitational field of a micro black hole and break through the Planetary Protection Shield. Several Chozo were able to evacuate to an unknown destination. A team consisting of Samus Aran, Mauk, and Kreatz were given 48 hours to handle the situation before a full strike would begin, where they would discover what had occured. About a dozen Chozo remained as prisoners (including Platinum Chest), and Mother Brain voluntarily became the new "Master" of the Pirates, along with Grey Voice as a commander. Samus refused to join them and was promptly swept aside by Ridley, who thought that welcoming her to their ranks was a joke. The Pirates made use of the Chozo bioengineering technology that was once used on Samus to adapt their own bodies to the planet. Kreatz and Mauk remotely commanded their ship to attack the biotech machines, which killed the Pirates in them and distracted Ridley from killing the prisoners, who escaped with the team. Grey Voice then made his attack on Mother Brain with an ancient Chozo weapon that was not in her databanks, revealing that the Chozo had planned to stay to ensure that she would not fall into Pirate hands. However, they had not anticipated the arrival of a pirate rescue party. Ridley interfered with the attack on Mother Brain, so Grey Voice escaped to assist the escaping party by destroying the persuing spacecrafts. The Space Pirate Flagship intercepted them, but Commander Adam Malkovich in the Federation Army Special Ops Battleship Vixin IV arrived to assist them and destroyed the Flagship. The Ultimate Weapon Prior to the battle of Zebes, a Federation's Planet Reclamation Division team was dispatched to the uncharted planet, SR388, in the year 20X5 in the history of the cosmos. The team discovered that 80% of the planet's native animals were dead before discovering the Metroids, which led the team to believe the organisms were the culprit. Another team was sent to capture a Metroid alive. The creature was held in suspended animation, but after their findings were reported, the Pirates attacked the team and stole the Metroid. The Pirate Science Team began performing research on the captured Metroid; their findings were a Space Pirate's dream come true. The Metroid could leech life from victims, was impervious to most weaponry, and could be cheaply cloned by exposure to beta rays for 24 standard hours. A suggestion was put forth that the Metroids could be used as bio-weapons, and thus began the Pirates' greatest campaign yet. The Reemergence at Zebes A three-way simultaneous attack was launched by the Pirates to test the power of the Metroids. No Pirate casualties occurred; it was a success. An assassination attempt was then made on Chairman Keaton with a Mimic. By now, the Federation Police had begun an investigation into the intercepted distress signal from the raided frigate. After a long and desperate search, the Federation Police managed to track the Space Pirates to Zebes. The Federation ordered an invasion but the Pirate resistance was strong, and the Federation army was unable to rescue the planet. The situation looked grim: the pirates now had access to a powerful new bio-weapon, and if they were left alone for too long, the pirates would launch a mass attack on the Federation capital worlds. Civilization would end. But then came deliverance in the form of Samus Aran. The mysterious bounty hunter had been orphaned in a previous pirate raid, raised by the Chozo, infused with their blood, and was regularly hired by the Federation, succeeding in missions thought previously to be impossible. She appeared to be the galaxy's last hope. After much debate, Samus was sent to Zebes with the following objectives: Exterminate all Metroids on planet Zebes and eradicate the mechanical life-form Mother Brain. Samus's "Zero Mission" The year is still 20X5. Upon arrival, Samus set out to kill the two generals in charge of the base. Kraid was the first target, and was terminated during their encounter when the stress from the battle caused the floor to collapse, killing him. Ridley, who Samus had a personal vendetta against as he was personally responsible for the death of her parents, had just arrived on Zebes at the same time Samus arrived at his living quarters. Ridley attacked Samus in a ferocious melee, but he was no match for her and was defeated when her missiles penetrated his chest, combusting him. However, Ridley was not dead and was eventually found by pirate search parties and was not only healed, but genetically enhanced by the Pirate Science Team, leading to his transformation into Meta Ridley. The Destruction of Tourian Samus, meanwhile, had made her way into Tourian, where she discovered that the Pirates had underestimated the Metroids' intelligence. The Metroids had broken out and all pirate personnel present during the breakout were killed. Mother Brain, however, was fully protected by her Chozo-built facility and remained completely unharmed. As a result, Metroid cloning had proceeded normally as though nothing had happened, increasing the Metroid population to an astonishing level. Samus proceeded to exterminate all the Metroids she found and made her way to Mother Brain. Mother Brain was terminated during her encounter with Samus, but just before she died, Mother Brain initiated the countdown for the self-destruct mechanism of the Tourian facility. Samus barely made it out alive. Unfortunately for her, Mother Brain had also managed to send a distress signal to the pirate frigates Orpheon, Siriacus, and Vol Paragom, which were in orbit at the time. Samus would not succeed in exterminating all the Metroids; the remaining survivors, as well as Ridley, Kraid, and Mother Brain herself, were found and given emergency resuscitation. Crisis at the Mothership Samus was quickly tracked down following her escape, and was eventually shot down by Space Pirate Fighters. She crash-landed on Zebes's surface, and the resulting explosion destroyed both her Power Suit and her Gunship. Though the Space Pirates presumed her to be dead, Samus managed to survive and had sneaked onto Ridley's Flagship in hopes of hijacking a ship. Unfortunately, she was spotted several times by the crew, and was forced to flee into the now-ruined Chozo city of Chozodia. When the pirates saw her again, she was equipped with a new and more powerful Power Suit. She invaded the Pirate Mother ship, killing all who tried to stop her. Eventually Samus came face to face with Mecha Ridley, the great robot built in Ridley's likeness and prototype to Meta Ridley that was overseeing the operations on the Mother ship. Samus destroyed the beast, but as a last resort, it set off a countdown for the self-destruct system of the Mothership. Samus managed to hijack a Pirate vessel and escape while the Pirate Mother ship exploded violently in the valley it had landed in. The Pirate campaign at Zebes had failed. The galaxy was safe...for now. The Phazon Crisis Discovery at Tallon IV The three pirate frigates Orpheon, Siriacus, and Vol Paragom had managed to escape safely, having been in orbit at the destruction of the base on Zebes. The remaining Metroids had been rescued, but were now on restricted feeding schedules due to low supplies. Ridley was on the Orpheon, being refitted with his new cybernetic body. Orpheon headed out farther into the Zebes system, eventually settling on Tallon IV while the other frigates went to unknown locations. While searching the planet for supplies, the pirates discovered another miraculous power source: Phazon. The mysterious semi-sentient liquid had been brought to the planet by a Leviathan 50 years earlier and had wreaked havoc on the Chozo community on Tallon IV until "The Cradle" had been built, a massive shield that prevented the Leviathan from spreading any more Phazon. Science Team's tests with the recovered Phazon opened up many possibilities with the mutagenic substance. Subjects who were exposed to it experienced increased muscle mass and incredible physical augmentation, as well as access to supernatural powers. However, they also experienced insanity, increased aggression, brain tissue deterioration, and, eventually, death. wreaks havoc on the Frigate Orpheon.]] The Campaign at Tallon IV Science Team was undeterred by these setbacks and asked for the excavation of more Phazon as well as for testing to see if there was any way to penetrate the Cradle's shield. As the Pirates began building a base on the planet's surface, the Science team started initial testing with Parasites, creating Parasite Queens onboard the Orpheon. They also began work on Project Helix, a project with the goal of creating Phazon-enhanced pirates. However, the project's initial results were disastrous; few subjects managed to survive such intense mutations. This was quickly remedied with a different strain of Phazon code-named Vertigo that was discovered during experiments with Parasites. With this, the Science Team managed to create a small force of Elite Pirates and a single Omega Pirate. During this time, a team of pirates were still trying to pierce the Cradle's impenetrable barrier that prevented entry into the Impact Crater, the source of the Phazon on the planet. Analysis of the crater revealed bizarre life form readings emanating from an unknown, massive creature locked away deep inside the impact site by the Cradle. At an undetermined point in time, Science Team began work on another project: reverse engineering Samus's weaponry. Based on detailed accounts from witnesses and data lores, the Pirate Science Team managed to equip special Pirates with a noticeably weaker version of Samus's beams. However, all attempts to reverse engineer the Morph Ball were discarded, as the test subjects simply ended up either horribly crushed and mangled. Unexpected knowledge of Phazon's life-giving power resulted in the creation of Thardus, which had to be quarantined in the Phendrana Drifts. At some point, inside the Orpheon, two of the three Parasite Queens broke out of their capsules and began a rampage on the Orpheon with their Parasite brood. The damage became so severe that the ship was crippled in orbit and was rendered unable to land. The occupants of the ship were forced to make an emergency evacuation of the frigate and sent out a distress signal, which was picked up by an unlikely candidate: Samus Aran. The Cleansing of Tallon IV Samus arrived in her newly restored Gunship and, upon investigating the frigate, found that the only pirates left were dead or badly maimed. After confirming the death of one the Parasite Queens, she discovered the second escaped Queen had nestled in the reactor core and battled it. Upon its death, the Parasite Queen fell into the reactor, causing a chain reaction that destroyed the frigate from the inside out. While searching for a way out, Samus encountered an awakening Meta-Ridley, who's resurrection had very recently been completed. He fled Orpheon and went onto Tallon IV with Samus in pursuit. However, she soon fell behind and had to track him on foot. Meta-Ridley presumably alerted the Space Pirates of her presence, yet all pirate attempts to stop her were useless. Samus blasted through all the traps and obstructions they had left for her, killed their Metroids, destroyed Thardus, slaughtered all the Elite Pirates, and even succeeded in killing the crown jewel of Project Helix: the Omega Pirate. Just before she could enter the Impact Crater with the keys required to access the Cradle's shield and kill the Phazon Core, Metroid Prime, Meta-Ridley flew in to terminate her personally, but his attempts were in vain. Samus managed to burn off his wings and then overload his life support, bringing him to near-death once more. The Chozo statues around the Artifact Temple then came to life and shot beams at him, causing him to misstep and fall off the mountain. However, Ridley survived the fall and would return in the following years. At any rate, the mission to Tallon IV had failed. Metroid Prime was killed and all the Phazon on the planet had presumably vanished. However, the discovery of Phazon was an important step for the Pirates; not all was over for them yet. The Campaign at Aether The presence of Phazon was discovered on Aether, a planet with a fragile dimensionality. Long ago, after an impact from a Leviathan, the planet had split into two separate dimensions, Light Aether and Dark Aether; the inhabitants of each dimension, the Luminoth and the Ing, respectively, immediately engaged in a great planetary war. Due to their larger numbers, The Ing had gained the upper hand; the Luminoth, despite their superior technology, had long since retreated, abandoning even their stronghold at Sanctuary Fortress. Having all gone into suspended animation save for their Sentinel, U-Mos, they waited for a miracle. A Space Pirate militia was given permission by High Command to investigate; soon, a frigate made its way to the Dasha region, where the Aether system was located. This would be a risky mission as Aether was located on the fringes of Federation space, so the pirates made it their first priority to set up a stealth shield. After several days of searching, the pirates discovered the Dark Beam. The discovery was reported to High Command, where it was later revealed to that its purpose was to allow access to Dark Aether through Dark Portals. Dark Aether, which housed the Leviathan, held great supplies of Phazon and the Space Pirates began mining operations there. Dark Samus However, progress was slow, impeded by Dark Aether’s poisonous atmosphere, the ferocity of the Ing, and by a mysterious, shadowy being the Pirates called the ‘‘‘Dark Hunter’’’. It would conduct frequent raids on the Pirates, seeking their Phazon, not their destruction, and exhibited such cruelty as the true Samus Aran had never shown. It also freed Metroids, rather than destroying them, having had a previous connection with them. The pirates mostly learned to ignore the Dark Hunter... until it destroyed the stealth shield, exposing the pirate's presence on Aether. The pirates hurried to fix the shield, but the damage was already done. Federation Interception A brigade of Federation Marines managed to intercept a pirate frigate headed to the Dasha region. A chase ensued, and the frigate was badly crippled and eventually crashed. The pirates' activities on Aether might have ended right then and there if the Marines' ship hadn't suffered a malfunction due to the stormy interdimensional atmosphere of Aether. After several weeks of scouting, the troopers were killed during repeated assaults by Dark Splinters. Their distress signal was intercepted by the true Samus, who soon arrived to investigate Aether and look for survivors. By then, most of the pirates had been possessed by the Ing. However, the few remaining pirates were able to observe that the two Samuses were enemies, which gave them the idea of recruiting Dark Samus to work for them: Phazon in exchange for the head of their common enemy. The Phaaze Cataclysm The Seeds of Scheming Unfortunately, the pirates did not have time to execute this plan. Samus destroyed Dark Aether, purging all Phazon from the planet and leaving Dark Samus for dead after a climatic battle. Samus had left the planet, and almost all the pirates that had come on the mission were dead. The mission at Aether might have been a complete disaster for the pirates and, to make things worse, the Federation soon arrived on Aether and took samples of the precious Phazon deposits. However, they left a great deal of Phazon behind. The pirate battleship Colossus managed to hurriedly take most of the Phazon and escaped from Aether. However, once they were in space, it was discovered that, along with the Phazon, the Colossus had picked up the remains of Dark Samus, still in molecular state after her last encounter with the real Samus. Confined in ths storage area of the Colossus, Dark Samus absorbed all the recovered Phazon, re-energizing herself, and eliminated a third of the Colussus's crew in minutes. She then brainwashed the remaining pirates to do her bidding. The corrupted clone warped their minds with promises of incredible riches and power. With the pirates so suckered into her megalomaniacal schemes, a quasi-religion began to form around her and the pirates began following her every whim. She taught the crew of the Colussus how to turn their battleship into a mighty craft fueled by Phazon. But, they did not get to celebrate for long. Dark Samus vanished mysteriously, leaving no clues as to her whereabouts. Some pirates suggested that she would never return, and that the pirates should back to their daily lives. Such naysayers were killed, and any who doubted Dark Samus’s eventual return soon learned to keep their mouths shut. Dark Samus did return, along with a gigantic Leviathan. Her faithful disciples accompanied her on it and were the first to bear witness to the planet Phaaze, the homeworld and origin of all Phazon. Dark Samus then revealed her scheme to harness the power of Phaaze and use it to spread Phazon across the universe. To do so, they needed to take control of Phaaze itself and to take control of the Genesis Chamber so that production of Leviathans could be sped up and Phazon would take control of the universe. How to do this was a dilemma, but an opportunity soon presented itself. The Valhalla Raid Two months after the events at Aether, the crew of the GFS Valhalla were holding a training mission in the Klar Nebula. The Valhalla was an immense battleship, an incredible bounty even by Space Pirate standards. A raid such on a ship of this size would have been nearly impossible, had it not been for the pirates’ Metroids. The savagery of the attack here was astonishing. Normally, the pirates would have stolen all the valuable components of the ship, but unusually, only two things were stolen: the Energy Cells and, more importantly, the Aurora Unit 313. The Pirate Homeworld With the Aurora captured, the Pirates returned to Phaaze, where, through the influence of Phazon, the Aurora Unit became symbiotically one with the planet. With the entire planet now under their control, Dark Samus began her master plan. A Leviathan was sent to the Pirate Homeworld, though not with the pre-approval of the inhabitants there at the time. All attempts to stop it were futile, and the planet began to become corrupted. Meta-Ridley was chosen as its Guardian, and he slowly became a Phazon-enhanced being. The Phazon also had the side-effect of becoming the Pirates' life-force and ending up completely possessing their minds. The Leviathan’s impact, however, did not go unnoticed by the rest of the galaxy. Skytown’s Aurora Unit 217 picked up the impact and tracked its origins to Phaaze, realizing that this was the living planet the Elysians found centuries earlier. Dark Samus realized this just in time to send a mysterious virus via the Aurora Unit 313, poisoning the entire Aurora Unit network in order to cover up the information leak. The Great Invasion Once the Leviathans finished maturing, Dark Samus launched a mass Pirate invasion upon many Federation strongholds so that the Seeds could reach their intended destinations: Norion, to gain control to the Federation’s base there and cripple the fleet, Bryyo, to cut off the Federation’s supply of Fuel Gel, which was mined there, and Elysia, to gain control of Skytown, an important observatory which held vast archives of information and rare Chozo technology. The attack on Bryyo was successful, with the Seed firmly planted. A Mogenar war golem was corrupted and became its Guardian. A Pirate energy shield was placed over the seed and two generators were created to maintain it: one in Bryyo Thorn Jungle and one in Bryyo Fire. A Pirate base was also established around the Thorn Jungle generator. Elysia’s Leviathan was initially successful, as it missed Skytown but succeeded in striking the planet itself. The sentient Elysian droids there were corrupted and their leader Helios became the Guardian. Generators were set up far below on the planet's surface, and a forward base with a successful Metroid breeding program was constructed in the Xenoresearch Labs in the western portion of the floating city. Norion was far more risky than the others because the Federation fleet was stationed there. A mass Pirate assault commenced, with Dark Samus and Meta-Ridley coming to personally ensure its arrival. The Federation attempted to hold them off, but the pirates managed to shut down the planetary defense system. However, they were unaware of the fact that Samus Aran herself and three other bounty hunters, Rundas, Gandrayda, and Ghor, were present at the time of the attack. The hunters rushed to restore the generators powering the base's cannon, which would allow them to destroy the Leviathan. Just before they could do so, Dark Samus rushed in and knocked them unconscious with a powerful Phazon blast. Samus managed to activate the cannon in time, sending a powerful laser that destroyed the Leviathan. The hunters managed to survive Dark Samus’s attack, but as a result, their bodies were now self-generating Phazon with no additional side effects. The Federation saw fit to install them with PEDs to take advantage of their condition. Samus remained unconscious for one month, but the three other hunters were dispatched to investigate the Pirates; Rundas to Bryyo, Ghor to Elysia, and Gandrayda to the Pirate Homeworld. However, their corruption, thought to be benign, soon began to overpower them. Ghor and Gandrayda succumbed and joined the pirates under Dark Samus’s influence. Rundas's corruption is a source of debate, as he never truly joined the Space Pirates (although he is mentioned in their logs, so they were aware of him and thought of him as one of their commanders); eventually, however, even he fell to the power of Phazon. The Pirates themselves, meanwhile, took the liberty of setting up many security systems to protect the Leviathans from any possible attack. The End of the Phaaze Catacylsm Samus Aran arrived on Bryyo after regaining consciousness (one week after the others ceased communications), now able to take full control of her Phazon. She then proceeded to destroy the Leviathans on Bryyo and Elysia. All Pirate attempts to stop her failed, and she eventually arrived on the Pirate Homeworld. There, she infiltrated the base and deactivated their planetary shield generator, allowing the Galactic Federation’s fleet to arrive. Samus herself led a team of Demolition Troopers into the base and gained access to the Pirate’s Leviathan seed. After defeating the Pirates on their homeworld, the Federation took control of the captured Leviathan battleship and warped to Phaaze. The Pirate fleet made one last stand at the Battle of Phaaze, but they were all ultimately destroyed when the planet exploded, wiping out all Pirate ships that failed to reach the wormhole in time. The 4th Zebes Campaign What happened after these events is uncertain, but it is clear that things were not looking good for the Space Pirates. Their homeworld was in Federation hands, their Metroid supply had been eliminated, and the Space Pirates no longer had a supply of Phazon. Worst of all, Samus Aran was still alive. All they had left was a remnant of their forces that was busy restoring the base at Zebes. With this, the Pirates decided to return to their original plan of cloning Metroids. The base at Zebes was rebuilt, and all their original leaders -- Kraid, Ridley, and Mother Brain -- were resuscitated and returned to operations. The Pirates also made use of several new allies: the Ki-Hunter and three new generals: Crocomire, Draygon, and Phantoon. Chief Hardy neglected to have the Federation Police examine this planet since the Pirates there had already been defeated once before. The Destruction of Ceres Space Colony Samus returned from SR388, the homeworld of the Metroids, where she had just finished exterminating all of them except for an infant which she had witnessed hatching and decided to spare. She entrusted it to the scientists at Ceres Space Colony, who believed they could harness its power for the good of mankind. But as soon as Samus left the station, Ridley and the Space Pirates broke in and killed all the scientists, intending to steal the infant Metroid. Samus returned in time to attempt to fight off Ridley, but he escaped with the Metroid and set off the self-destruct for the station. Samus barely made it out alive. .]] The Destruction of Zebes Samus managed to follow the Pirates to Zebes, where she infiltrated the base in her search for the infant Metroid. By the time she arrived, the Pirates were well into their plans for Metroid cloning. Unfortunately for the Pirates, conventional beta-ray cloning was far too slow to enable a final stand; the Pirates began using cheaper and faster methods, but they were only able to produce Mochtroids, which were feeble imitations of Metroids at best. The infant Metroid itself was incredibly enhanced by unknown methods and became the Super Metroid. Ultimately, Samus killed all of the Pirate leaders and made her way to Tourian, where she killed all of the cloned Metroids the Space Pirates had produced. She was no match for the Super Metroid, but it recognized Samus at the last instant and spared her life. Samus then fought a revived Mother Brain, whose enhanced mechanical body nearly killed her. In the end, the Super Metroid sacrificed itself to save Samus’s life and gave her Mother Brain’s Hyper Beam in the process, allowing Samus to defeat Mother Brain once and for all. Mother Brain’s final act was to set off the planetary self-destruct. Samus escaped safely, but the Space Pirates were all destroyed in the explosion. The Space Pirates were gone, their plans for galactic domination shattered beyond repair... At least, that is what the universe hopes... Recreation on the Bottle Ship With the defeat of Mother Brain, the death of Ridley, and the utter destruction of the planet Zebes along with what remained of the Space Pirate forces; the state of the galaxy had seemingly become more peaceful. This would not prove to be the case however as various persons within the Galactic Federation conspired to recreate the galactic menace as biological weapons of mass destruction for use in the military. Despite near total dissapproval by the leaders within the Federation Congress, a select few within the Federation's scientific community saw the potential in the possiblity of using one of the most viscous races in existence as a tool of near unstoppable force. To this end the rouge scientists secretly acquired the DNA of the last of the Space Pirates, deemed Zebesians, off the armor of their very killer, famed Bounty Hunter Samus Aran. The scientists then moved their research, backed by a secretive and corrupt part of the Galactic Federation, onto a research colony called the Bottle Ship. Led by the enigmatic Madeline Bergman, the scientific team began the painstakingly long process of recreating all of the genetic codes of the slain creatures of Zebes found on the Power Suit of Samus, including the dreaded pirates themselves. It was soon discovered however that the Zebesians that were brought to life through cloning were mindless and blood-thirsty, acting on the most basic of instincts. This setback brought to light what was missing from the equation needed in an effective army, a leader; the Mother Brain. Thus the team set about creating a near identical clone of the original Mother Brain with the successful experiment resulting in the birth of the other Mother ,MB. MB worked just as they had hoped and she successfully integrated and enhanced the reasoning of the resurrected pirate armies. However an unforseen event would occur that would forever change the course of fate for the science team, the discovery of the DNA strain of something even more terrifying than a Space Pirate; a metroid. This startling turn of events lead those aboard the Bottle Ship to abandon the original plan of a Pirate army in favor of one comprised of genetically engineered metroids, leaving the fate of the reborn Zebesians in limbo for a time. Other Notable Events This section covers events in the History of Space Pirates that, while they only involved a small percentage of Pirates, are important enough to have affected their entire race in both small and big ways. K-2L Raid "Kill as much as you want! Have fun!"- Ridley during the raid. On the year 2000 of the history of the cosmos, a Pirate fleet led by Ridley made its way to the planet K-2L, sensing large amounts of fuel and plunder. K-2L was a colony under the territorial ownership of Earth which was primarily a site for mining Afloraltite, which was used for fueling ships' ignition modules. Rodney Aran, who was in charge of the mining facility, realized an attack was coming after heavy Electromagnetic waves surging through the area started toppling any ship that tried to leave. The Pirates swept through, stealing all they could and killing anything that tried to fight back. Samus Aran, then 3 years old, had a frightening encounter with Ridley himself, who was publicly humiliated in front of his troops when Samus naively asked if they could be friends. Ridley lunged at her, but Samus's mother, Virginia Aran, pushed her out of the way and was burned to a crisp. Eventually, the attack came to a close when Rodney sacrificed himself to destroy Ridley's flagship by using a welding laser to ignite the Afloraltite inside, causing the ship to violently explode. While this was likely a minor event for the Space Pirates as a whole at the time, it was a turning point that would decide their eventual fate, as this event was permanently ingrained in Samus Aran's memory and led to her desire to destroy the Space Pirates once and for all. Weavel's Hunt and his spaceship.]] .]] Sometime betwen the Space Pirates' campaigns on Tallon IV and Aether, a mysterious telepathic message originating from the Tetra Galaxy was broadcast throughout the universe. The message was spoken in various languages, dialects, and even slangs, but all interpretations retained the same meaning: "The secret to ultimate power resides in the Alimbic Cluster." Naturally, the Space Pirates must have been curious about such a compelling message, and so they sent Weavel, a former Space Pirate who had been critically injured years earlier in a fight with Samus Aran and was later rebuilt as a cyborg. Weavel's mission was to collect the eight Octoliths, which were required to activate the Alimbic Cannon to open up the Infinity Void and allow access to the Oubliette, where the ultimate power was likely held. Weavel was unable to gain all the Octoliths before his old foe Samus Aran, but he was able to get to the Oubliette well before she did. There, Weavel and the other hunters that had embarked on the quest discovered the Seal Sphere, which they began firing at in hopes that it held the ultimate power inside. To their great horror, the Seal Sphere instead contained Gorea, a monstrous entity who was personally responsible for the extinction of the Alimbics. Gorea immeditely lashed out with his tentacles, grabbed the hunters, and began assimilating their weapons, including Weavel's Battlehammer. Samus alone remained behind to kill Gorea while Weavel and the other hunters fled in shame to their ships. All of them managed to escape just in time as the Oubliette exploded behind them, thanks to Samus Aran. BSL Mystery Space Pirates were somehow present on the Biologic Space Laboratories research station during the X Parasite epidemic, where the X began infecting everything they encountered. Samus Aran encountered numerous X-infected Pirates and even encountered an X-infected version of Ridley. All that is known about their presence is that it was considered "alarming" by the Federation and was not related to sanctioned experiments; rather, they seemed to be there to aid their plans for galactic conquest. The X were able to wield considerable power with the Pirates and even created an aquatic variation that was a fusion between an ordinary Pirate and a Skultera. Eventually, thanks once again to Samus Aran, the X, along with all the Pirates they had infected, were destroyed when the BSL station self-destructed, destroying planet SR-388. Notes Category:History Category:Space Pirates